We arrived in Koh Samui on the ferry in the morning of the 7th May. We had decided between us that we would stay at the same beach I had stayed at previously, owing to it being much quieter and less touristy than other places on the island. This decision has been very fortunate because the beach is much quieter and more beautiful as a result, than the other beaches.

We're staying at Meanam beach in the Shangrilah bungalows. Take a look at the photos to check out out bungalow. We're less than a stones throw from the beach and all for 350 baht a night (7 pounds roughly). Much of our time has been spent sunbathing and swimming or relaxing. The first few days we had here were incredibly hot. It has cooled a little now though with the arrival of rain. The storms don't generally last for very long but come and go. They are incredibly heavy and it doesn't take long before entire roads are flooded and you're wading through ankle deep puddles to get to the shop or bar!

We also had a day of unlucky/lucky escapes... Lisa manged to fall down a drain, badly scratching her leg and putting her foot in what for the most part had to be sewage... thankfully the wound is clean and ok - no hospital trips yet. Again, whilst eating dinner - a storm raged above us and as we sat talking a loud crack and booming noise sent us ducking for cover. The thunder was so loud that Lisa's ears were ringing for a moment. We looked to our left where the lightening had struck a Palm tree no more than 5 meters away... it was on fire and showering the ground below with embers. The storm continued to rage and thankfully decided it had come close enough to us this time.

We took a trip to the main tourist hub of Chaweng and were both very disappointed. The place literally stinks in the main town, food and drink is expensive, the beach is pretty but is spoilt by the endless wall of resorts that run along its edge, sitting side by side so that from the road the beach is totally shielded from view. We didn't stay long...

We're staying here until the 14th and then we will leave for somewhere as yet undecided. At that point we will have 10 days left on our Thai visas so we may spend them stopping at a few coastal towns on the way back to Bangkok (again) before we leave for Cambodia.